Budgeting a Family Trip to Puerto Rico: Cost Breakdown

Are you wondering about budgeting a trip to Puerto Rico for your family? I’ll break down the cost of our trip. We spent ten days and nine nights in Puerto Rico. Our family consisted of three adults and two children, ages 5 and 7. We flew out of a midsize airport, visited Puerto Rico in January of 2025, and stayed in three different parts of the island. That included Rio Grande for the rainforest, Esperanza on the island of Vieques for beaches, and the capital city, San Juan. We had three guided tours, which included a reptile rainforest tour, a kayak trip to Mosquito Bay to see the bioluminescence, and a visit to the Caribbean Manatee Conservation Center. We ate out one to two times a day. Other meals included picnics, snacks, or meals prepared at our lodging. We rented a vehicle the whole time.

Here is the article detailing our Puerto Rico itinerary for a family. I included helpful planning tips and suggestions on lodging, activities, and transportation.

Cost of Our Family Trip to Puerto Rico

Like all vacations, there were plenty of places where we could have spent more or less money depending on the budget and preferences. You can adjust your Puerto Rico family itinerary according to your preference. The prices listed below are cash prices, but we were able to spend over $1,000 less by using credit card points. Keep reading for details. Here is what our trip cost. The five people included three adults and two kids.

	Total price for 5 People	Prices broken down
Flights and luggage	$1,790	$358/person from MSP
Lodging for 9 Nights	$2,262	$251/night for the family
Food	$1,086	$22/day/person
Car rental/parking/Ferry	$1,185	$119/day for the family
Tours/admission	$680	$136/person
Souvenirs	$100	$20/person
Total Cost	$7,103	$142/person/day
Total Cost minus points	$5,987	$120/person/day

Places to Splurge with a Higher Budget

If I had more cash to spend on this trip, I would have booked a private tour of Old San Juan. I would have loved to learn more about the city’s fascinating history, but was hesitant about my kid’s ability to walk quietly along with a large group hearing history designed for adults.

I would have loved to have a tour guide on one of our beach days in Vieques. There are guides who can help introduce young kids to snorkeling or keep young guests on a paddleboard or boat while some members of the group snorkel.

While our Airbnb and Guest House were plenty nice lodging for our family, with extra money, I would have rented a more comfortable hotel or even an Airbnb in San Juan. There were some really beautiful rentals in Old Town itself, which would have been fantastic. Had we stayed right in old town, my husband and I probably would have gone out for a drink after bedtime, leaving Grandpa to watch the kids.

Ways to Reduce Lodging Costs

I think the easiest place to cut back would have been on lodging. We spent only one night in a regular old hotel. We spent four nights in a very nice Airbnb, three nights at a multiple-room guesthouse, and one night at Great Wolf Lodge the night before our early morning flight.

The Airbnb was shared with another family, which made it more affordable. It had a private pool, which the kids swam in EVERY day, often several times a day, and a full kitchen that we used to minimize our eating out. The house was along a river where we got to rock jump, and it was the perfect place to go searching for the famous coqui frogs after dark. It would have been cheaper to stay in a hotel but you lose a lot of amenities.

The Guest house was on Vieques, where lodging was limited. We could have found a more affordable price if we had given up the ability to walk to town and the beach. In hindsight, it was convenient to be able to walk, but there were only a few instances when driving would have been more difficult. For example, one evening, while we were walking back to the house, an adult ordered pizza and brought it back to the house, while the other adults took the kids back to rest.

Finally, we stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge the night before our flight. It was a great way for the kids to get all their energy out the day before a long day at the airport, but we could have found a more affordable hotel with a regular pool and visited a playground for free earlier in the day.

Transportation Costs

I was happy with our flight prices. You can find cheaper flights if you are willing to have a flight with a layover, a flight with less-than-ideal times, or don’t pay for checked luggage. We had a nonstop flight and landed in the early afternoon. We also paid for two bags between the five of us. As the kids get older, we can be more flexible with flight times. Given our current situation, I usually prefer to drive to a major airport to catch a nonstop flight rather than pay higher prices at a smaller airport, which increases the risk of a delay. I plan to transition to no checked bags and have the kids each bring their carry-on now that they are getting older.

It would be challenging to find a more affordable car rental for the number of people we had, as we already had a small car for five people with luggage. We did have to pay for a separate car rental for Vieques, which increased our total cost. Rental cars are not allowed on the ferry, and because of the roads on Vieques, you have to rent a Jeep. If we had planned differently, we might have been able to save some money by dropping off our first rental car before going to Vieques. Then, we would have had to manage the logistics of getting to and from the ferry terminal and San Juan. This wouldn’t be impossible, but it is harder when kids are still in booster seats.

Food Costs

Our food budget was higher than I wanted to see. We tried to maximize it by going grocery shopping several times and making meals at home. I like to limit myself to going out to eat only once a day, but we didn’t quite meet that goal on this trip.

Experience Costs

We always emphasize free or cheap entertainment and then try to find private or small-group tours. I’m happy to spend a bit more for experiences and education.

I LOVED our bioluminescent kayak trip. This experience is only available on guided tours, but even if we had gone alone, the guides provided us with a lot of helpful and interesting information. We used Jak Watersport and would happily recommend them.

I searched through so many rainforest tours. Many did not take kids under 8. Many of the tours also appeared to be really large groups, which is not what I’m looking for when visiting nature. We ended up doing a private tour with the other family we were traveling with. Ultimately, I didn’t think the tour was worth the money and wouldn’t recommend the guide. It was a half-day tour for $80 per person that included lunch but not transportation. The food provided was common and cheap, and it required us to drive an extra hour out of the way.

We visited the Caribbean Manatee Conservation Center and loved the tour. It was led by someone who clearly knew a ton about marine biology and had a passion for education. It was $16 for kids and $19 for adults.

Credit Card Rewards Points

We are starting to get more into the “game” of credit card rewards. I listed the cash prices above for clarity, but in reality, we paid for our mainland car rental, Great Wolf Lodge, and both nights at Miramar with points, which didn’t cost us anything. That means we saved $1,116! If you’re looking to earn points and want detailed articles, check out The Points Guy. If you want a podcast that breaks down all the details, making it easy to learn step by step, check out Points for Normal People. I have been learning so much!

Free or Cheap Activities in Puerto Rico

We ended up being in Old Town on MLK Day, so the national historical sites were free. Even on full-price days, the entrance fee is reasonable. Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal are both located in Old Town, and when you purchase admission to one, you also gain access to the other.

El Parque de las Palomas (Pigeon Park) was so popular with my family that we ended up going twice in one day. The park itself is free. If you want the pigeons to land on you, you can buy food for only $2 a bag.

Many of the beaches we went to were free. There was a minimal fee to get access to some of the beaches on Vieques. We swam in the pool at our lodging more days than not, which the kids always love.

El Yunque National Rainforest is free of charge. If you want to stop at the Visitor Center for information, maps, a gift shop, etc, it is $8 per adult, but kids 15 and under are free. There is a wealth of hiking opportunities available that can keep you busy all day.

More Budget Information

If you are looking for more information on how much a trip to Puerto Rico will cost, check out Budget Your Trip. They only offer quotes for solo travelers or couples. Their estimate for a couple, on average, for a two-week trip is $243 per person per day, which does NOT include airfare. Our trip, excluding airfare, cost $106 per person per day.

In Conclusion

Travel planning and budgeting are different for every trip. It is always a balance between comfort, experiences, and cost, and there is no one right answer for every family. My best advice if you’re trying to cut costs is to track your expenses. Knowing how much you spent helps you see if you need to cut back on upcoming expenses or if you have a little left to splurge on something important to you. When in doubt, say yes to the experience, and if you need to cut costs, choose the more affordable lodging or transportation option. Good luck in determining the cost of your family trip to Puerto Rico! Bon Voyage! Buen Viaje! Safe Travels!

Do you have tips or tricks to get the most out of your money? Comment below!